Verizon's 2016 Breach Investigations Report found healthcare data breaches were most likely to be caused by human error in the form of stolen or lost assets, insider and privilege misuse and miscellaneous errors, such as improper device disposal or mishandling protected health information.
Here are five takeaways:
1. While the healthcare industry was only ranked 10th in the most data security incidents out of the 21 total industries studied, there were still 166 healthcare data security incidents reported in 2015.
2. Of the 166 healthcare security events, 115 were confirmed to be healthcare data breaches.
3. For reported security events, 32 percent were caused by stolen assets, 23 percent involved privilege misuse and 22 percent were the result of miscellaneous errors, including inappropriate publishing of information and sending protected health information to the wrong individual.
4. Laptops were usually the most common device to steal or lose across all industries. The devices were most likely to be taken from the victim's work area (39 percent) and the victim's personal vehicle (33.9 percent).
5. Researchers recommended businesses implement more data encryption strategies, provide staff training on physical security and establish policy violations with possible consequences for losing sensitive data.